Thursday, August 19, 2021

Do’s and Don’ts of Installing a Roof Skylight

Roof Skylight Tulsa, OK

Thankfully, today’s skylights generally provide homeowners with fewer technical worries than they once did due to improved manufacturing. Even still, there are functional and aesthetic factors that demand careful thought in terms of installation.

Take it from the pros – here are a few do’s and don’ts of installing a roof skylight.

Do’s of Roof Skylight’s

A skylight can be an excellent addition, providing more natural light throughout your home. Here are a few tips on how to choose the right skylight for your home.

Carefully Select a Location

You should take your time when deciding where to install a roof skylight and take special consideration into its solar orientation. If you’re considering an area that doesn’t get much natural sunlight throughout the day, installation costs might not be easily justified. In contrast, if the sunlight is in an area that gets too much sunlight, it might make the room unbearably hot.

Consider Tinting

Most skylight manufacturers today provide a variety of tinting options. This glaze goes across the sunlight and ranges from grays to bronzes to translucent whites, depending on the sun’s orientation on your rooftop.

Bronze or gray tints will help to allow for direct sunlight while minimizing some overheating in the interior of your home. The white tinting will act as a diffuser of the sunlight into the room below.

Pay Attention to Indoor and Outdoor Appearances

Since skylights connect the outdoors to the indoors, you need to pay attention to the aesthetics in both areas of your home. From the inside, try aligning your skylight with a window, door opening, or any other existing feature in your home. This trick helps to prevent your skylight from looking out of place.

Go as Big as You Can

When choosing your skylight design, opt to go as big as aesthetics and orientation will allow for your home. Larger skylights tend to be cheaper than smaller alternatives per unit area, with the difference in labor being relatively minimal. Skylights can be as large as ten feet by twelve feet.

Also, one large skylight is better than multiple smaller ones in the same area if you can manage it. Less light is brought in by smaller skylights, even when there are multiples. They also tend to cost more in labor and will increase the likelihood of leaks.

Get Creative

There are tons of different skylight options. You are not restricted to the traditional bubble design. Some manufacturers specialize in low-profile skylights, and others use flat glass rather than acrylic. You can find some unusual skylight shapes, too, such as octagons, circles, or pyramids.

You can find just about anything out there if you look hard enough. Always make sure that your skylights meet local building and fire codes, though.

Consider Self-Ventilation

You can easily find self-ventilating features on skylights for your home. This concept helps to keep your space airy and cool while illuminating it with natural light.

For optimal convenience, look for automatic skylights which have rain and heat sensors. These sensors detect both moisture and temperature and open when it is too warm and close when there is rain.

Don’ts of Roof Skylight’s

Adding a skylight to your home should take careful consideration. To err on the side of caution, here are a few tips to try to avoid when picking your skylight.

Install on South-Facing Sloping Roofs

As previously mentioned, too much sunlight can be harmful to a room, especially those of a smaller size. South-facing skylights installed on sloping roofs are known to overheat rooms. Instead, opt to install your skylight on a north-facing rooftop to take advantage of a soft, diffused light throughout the day.

Install on Street-Facing Roofs

As best as you can, avoid installing skylights on any roofs that face the street. They tend to look wildly out of place on more traditional home styles. Even on some modern homes, skylights can have a cluttered look from the street. It’s always recommended to have as discreet of concealment as possible not negatively impact your curb appeal.

Skimp on Quality

Not surprisingly, skylights are not a feature of your home that you should compromise quality for cost. Important considerations to high-quality skylights include water tightness, wind resistance, sound reduction, energy efficiency, and load resistance. Because installing a skylight into your roof is a considerable undertaking, you’ll want to make sure you find the highest quality available in your area.

Wrap Up

Following the do’s and don’ts of installing a roof skylight will ensure that your home receives a tasteful design paired with effective distribution of natural lighting. While there will also be some minor concerns surrounding leak potential, thankfully, today’s skylights have been improved to minimize these threats.

So, if you feel like an area of your home could use some brightening, maybe it’s time to consider adding in a roof skylight of your own.

The post Do’s and Don’ts of Installing a Roof Skylight appeared first on Burggraf Roofing of Tulsa OK.

source https://burggrafroofing.com/dos-and-donts-of-installing-a-roof-skylight/

Signs Your Roof Has Hail Damage

Hail Damage Tulsa, OK

You battened down the hatches, and you made it through the storm free and clear. Or so you think. But your roof may have sustained damage without your knowledge. To maximize the life of your roof, you need to recognize the signs that your roof has sustained hail damage. Knowing what to look for and then taking action will help your roof to have a long, happy life, and it will keep the outdoors outside where it belongs.

Get Down with Your Gutters

One of the easiest ways to see if your roof has hail damage is to check your gutters. If your gutters have visible dents and dings, that is a good indicator that your roof has probably sustained some damage.

Another way your gutters can guide you to the truth about whether or not hail has damaged your roof is to pay attention to what is or is not draining from them.

If your roof is asphalt, look for granules in the runoff. If your roof is slate, pieces of tile in the runoff signify that your roof may need some TLC.
If your gutters are clogged, you probably need a pro to check your roof for hail damage.

Don’t Allow Hail Damage to “Bruise” Your Ego

If you are not afraid of heights, you can tell a ton about your roof’s condition after a hail storm by taking a look at its surface. If your roof has signs of bruising, depending on the size of the ding, you may have severe hail damage.

The damage may be superficial if they are relatively small, so your roof might live through it without professional attention. However, if the bruise is a big one, your roof has probably been damaged enough to warrant an inspection.

Also, if you press on the bruise and there is “give,” that indicates your roof sustained an injury during the recent storm.

Don’t Let Your Roof Expose Itself

Hail can come in sizes that vary. It can be from pea size to softball size, and it is not abnormal for it to hit your roof at speeds faster than a fastball. When that happens, your roof will often sustain damage that will cause it to have large missing chunks. These missing pieces will leave the under material exposed. If that’s the case, it’s time to call in the roofer.

Is Your Roof Cracked Up? That’s Not Funny!

If you see that your shingles started to crack following a hail storm, it is probably damaged. Besides hail, other things can cause a roof to crack, such as prolonged exposure to direct sunlight and repeated inclement weather. Regardless of the crack’s cause, having a roofer check out the issue is highly recommended to prevent those small cracks from causing big problems.

Tiny Bubbles Can Cause Big Problems

Bubbles in a roof are also called blisters. If you’ve ever had a bad sunburn, you understand the correlation. If your roof appears to have started bubbling following a hail storm, you need to have a professional check the damage.

What Could Happen if I Just Take My Chances?

If you are into gambling, there are better ways to go about it than betting with the health of your roof following a hail storm. It is much more cost-effective to have a professional assess the damage than to leave it unchecked. By not having your roof diagnosed for damage, you are inviting minor issues to turn into major problems. Hail damage can cause:

Your roof to leak into your house itself
Cracks leading to moisture collecting more readily
Increased moisture collection. This will can lead to mold. And no one wants a moldy house
A decreased shelf life for your roof

Give Me the Bottom Line if a Hail Storm Damaged the Top of My House

Hail damage to your roof, if left unchecked, can be costly. However, preventative maintenance can keep you from having to pay big bucks if you have to have your roof replaced in its entirety.

Because hail damage to your roof can be hard to detect to the untrained eye, it’s recommended to give a professional a call to assess the issue. The pros at Burggraf Roofing are the right ones for this job.

Burggraf roofers are experts at repairing roofs made from any material. They will come out and inspect your roof free of charge and give you an estimate for the cost of repairs.

Burggraf is Tulsa’s top choice for all of your roofing needs. Be it repair, maintenance, or replacing your roof in its entirety, Bruggraf’s professionals will keep you and your family safe from the elements. Experts in every kind of roofing under the sun, Burgraff Roofing will help you keep a roof over your head and keep the outdoors outside where it belongs.

The post Signs Your Roof Has Hail Damage appeared first on Burggraf Roofing of Tulsa OK.

source https://burggrafroofing.com/signs-your-roof-has-hail-damage/

The 4 Main Types of Asphalt Shingles

Asphalt Shingles Tulsa, OK

The most popular roofing material used in homes throughout the United States is asphalt shingles. This roofing type is ideal for residential homes because it requires minimal upkeep, keeps homes protected for decades, and comes in countless different color and style variations.

If you’re looking into asphalt shingles for your roof, you’ll want to do your homework to determine what options are out there. Here is a detailed look at the four main types of asphalt shingles available today.

Traditional Shingles
Traditional shingles are the older version of asphalt shingles that are still on the market today. Also referred to as 3-tab shingles or strip shingles, this roofing type has been improved today to include a fiberglass mat replacing the original cellulose core. When traditional shingles first hit the market, they were much smaller and required manual sealing. Since then, the 3-tab shingle style has become more widely used, with a self-sealing process that occurs when the sunlight hits the newly installed roof. Since this newer style of the traditional asphalt shingle requires less manual labor, roofers can charge homeowners less for the installation. Another feature that was specific to traditional shingles was their monotone color. Offering a more aesthetically appealing appearance, today’s traditional shingles combine several shades. In addition to being better to look at, these shade variations are also better at masking any imperfections found on roofing done in one single color. Traditional shingles have a consistent and straightforward appearance. All of the individual shingles within the 3-tab are identical in shape, and all lay flat perfectly next to one another.

Architectural Shingles
Another common type of asphalt shingles is architectural shingles, also known as dimensional or laminate shingles. What sets architectural shingles apart from traditional shingles is their construction, as rather than being made from one single layer, they are made from two. Both layers of architectural shingles are a combination of fiberglass and asphalt. With the added protection of double layering, these shingles are known to be incredibly weather-resistant. Architectural shingles were historically brought to the market for visual aesthetic purposes only. Eventually, roofers realized that these shingles were easier to install and provided more protection to homes. Today, architectural shingles are the most popular type of asphalt shingles out there. You can quickly identify architectural shingles because they have such a unique look to them. Rather than being cut into identical shapes, like traditional shingles, architectural shingles have alternating single and double layers. This design is commonly referred to as “dragon’s teeth.”

Premium Shingles
Premium shingles are sometimes referred to as designer shingles and have a similar two-layer composition, much like architectural shingles. The primary feature differentiating the two roofing types is that premium shingles have added options to create a more luxurious look. Often, premium shingles are designed to look like other types of roofing material. It is not uncommon to find premium shingles made to look like slate tiles or cedar shakes. Ultimately, premium shingles were designed to provide homeowners with a more upscale look without the cost and downsides of those types of roofing.

Performance Shingles
Several asphalt shingle types fall under the performance shingle category. This title means that the shingles have been specifically designed to offer performance benefits. Some of the standard performance benefits you will find include solar reflectivity, hail resistance, or wind resistance.

Wind Resistance
Wind resistance in performance shingles can help keep your roof intact during high winds while minimizing the threat of blow-off or wind uplift.

Impact-Related
The impact from hail is often sudden and brutal, so shingles that have been impact-rated mean that they resist hail better than alternatives. Not only do these roofing types have a better chance at maintaining their quality through hailstorms, but they may also qualify you for a reduction in your home insurance premiums.

Algae Resistance
It is common for algae to grow on rooftops in many areas across the country, but this can be problematic. Algae can leave behind black stains, so performance shingles with algae resistance offer algae-resistant granules to reduce the growth on your roof.

Fire Resistance
Class A Fire Resistance is the highest fire-resistance rating you can get for a roof. To maximize the fire rating, you must install the whole roof system.

Why Choose Asphalt Shingles for Your Roof
Not only are asphalt shingles available in countless style options, but they are also widely available across the United States and Canada. Asphalt shingles are also very easy to install, so they are common for roofing contractors to offer to homeowners.

As if that didn’t sound good enough, asphalt shingles are also one of the most affordable roofing options out there. You can check with your contractor for other cost-saving options for your roofing project, such as installing new shingles on top of your old ones.

Wrap Up
Now that you have a better idea of the four main types of asphalt shingles, it’s up to you to decide what is best suited for your home. Keep in mind the different benefits of each while also researching to find the costs associated.

The post The 4 Main Types of Asphalt Shingles appeared first on Burggraf Roofing of Tulsa OK.

source https://burggrafroofing.com/the-4-main-types-of-asphalt-shingles/